Her answer in a capsule
by black7kunoichi
Summary: "Don't worry." He said after, turning his attention to the front. "I'll protect you." And for the first time, Lucy believed dragons did really exist on Earthland. NALU Oneshot


**Hi guys,**

**Please enjoy this one-shot.  
Disclaimer: All rights reserved for their respective owner. Fairy Tail does not belong to me.**

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Natsu Dragneel swam in his capsule before coming to a halt. Eyes blinking in confusion as he held his breath underneath the lava. His eyes adjusted as the room where he was capsule was being detained flicked on. The blinking then fizzed to life with lights around. The figure walking into the room sat down with obvious anger plastered on their face.

It was Lucy.

Natsu was nothing more than a specimen that she had found near the volcanoes. A creature of some sort that looked awfully like a typical human. Feet and hands and a proper body that breathed air and savored on fire. He watched silently as the blonde-haired scientist stood up abruptly and kicked her chair until it slammed against the wall. Then she went back, retrieved the chair and sat down with her face in her palms, her body shaking and her fingers getting wet from the tears.

Tears – the male noted before swimming to the top of his lava capsule and commanding the heat in his body to dry off the hot remnants from his body and clothes. Once done, he ran a quick hand through his slightly damp hair and strode forward to where the blonde was sitting.

"Luce, are you okay?" His scaled hands reached out for her but she only allowed the silence to answer him. Her sniffling made the creature to walk in front of her and drop to his knees, his large hands wrapping themselves in her own that held her face. Slowly, the blonde-haired girl looked up from her hands,

"I'm sorry, Natsu." He didn't understand why she was apologizing. Instead he only removed his hands from her face and rested them on her knees, circling smooth but encouraging motions on her skin. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hands before offering a sad smile,

"What happened?" With much more confidence, the girl on placed a hand on top of his. Just briefly halting his ministrations.

"You'll be sent to the main laboratory in the capital. It's more than five days away. You'll be going for further investigations." She paused, "I'm not sure how long. But when people go there, they don't return." There was a silent cry behind her words. Almost crying of the dangers lying behind the doors once he leaves.

"Will you be coming too?" She shook her head in response.

"I've been stripped off my rights just now. I can't go with you anywhere. You'll be leaving tomorrow morning."

The pinkette gawked in shock. "Tomorrow morning?! That was quick!" The blonde snapped her head up in frustration,

"I couldn't convince them for you to stay. They were head locked into sending you away and I thought I could at least try." She rolled her eyes, "Unfortunately, that's not the only thing of why I'm angry."

Natsu blinked. "That's not? There's actually more?" He whistled lowly, "Man – what else did they do?"

"I'll be working full time tonight as per the chief's orders. Meaning-."

"-You won't be getting off in time to see me." The pinkette finished off. He grasped the blonde's legs and ran smooth fingers over them, sending a rush of heat towards Lucy's face. Her fingers flew to the chair and gripped the edges as her stomach fluttered to life.

"Uh… no." The blonde began, "It means that I'll just have to sneak out." The ministrations stopped abruptly and he gave the biggest and toothiest mischievous grin to the blonde,

"Lucy – thought I'd never see the day where you'd rebel."

"Looks like you don't know me at all, dragon."

_Dragon_.

That was the name that Lucy had thought of the pinkette when she first stumbled upon him. It was just a few years back when the blonde went out on an excursion and had somehow, mysteriously broke off from the team. Getting lost in the process.

The wind was blowing and regardless that she was in the city of Tartarus with a mysterious background of demons roaming aimlessly, the blonde had shrugged any scared thought of trudged the forest, looking for at least some sort of shelter.

After finding some kinda of run down building hidden away, she had released her backpack, took off her bags and settled on the driest floor she could find. Making sure to huddle in a corner as the night wind breezed through the cracks of the building. It was cold and knowing that she only had a large flimsy jumper made the blond regret her decisions of not packing at least a small blanket.

"You look cold…" A voice chuckled from beside her.

"I am." The blonde responded, teeth clattering and knocking over each other. That was…until she realized that she was talking to someone. Literally. With just a raise of her head, the blonde identified a purple figure sitting with the most daunting face. A smile that dug down deep into her nerve system and tugged her frozen brain to life.

The air in her lungs left her and was replaced with a scream.

Without missing a beat, the blonde had quickly pushed off from huddling and made a mad dash anywhere but there. Escaping the building and running. As far and fast her legs could carry her. Dodging a couple of trees and swiftly making a life-and-death jump over an impeccable boulder, Lucy could hear the sound of laughter and feet trailing behind her. Looking back, brown eyes roamed the darkness that seemed to taunt her escape until she turned her head straight, smacking right into something hard.

Lucy blinked the tears away, hands clasped her nose and scrunched her face in pain of the impact. Her body staggering back from the impact until two hands grasped her gently het tightly. Steadying her on her feet.

"Whoa-! Are you okay?" Her eyes focused on a male. Worry swimming in his eyes as he lowered his head to peer at her. Lucy nodded slowly, then when reality sunk in, she pulled quickly away-

Eyebrows raised. "Huh?"

The sound of running came to a halt just directly behind her. Without turning around, she already knew that whatever was chasing her back from that old building, was most likely the thing that was just about to kill her. It reached out to her. She had turned around just in time to see this human morph into something that shouldn't be real. Its claws extended out to grab her.

The blonde squeezed her eyes shut and raised her arms in front to brace herself for the impact.

It never came.

Heat soared around her and she peeked through her lashes.

Fire danced around her like a protective barrier. Its heat soothing her frozen heart and encasing it in its warmth. A broad back blocked her view and long pink hair flowed gracefully. Fire encasing his forearms and upon her close perspective, she could spot the dark red scales that pierced his skin like a second armor.

"I see…" he said lowly, before tilting his head back to her, eyes changing color as it locked with dark brown.

"Don't worry." He said after, turning his attention to the front. "I'll protect you."

And for the first time, Lucy believed dragons did really exist on Earthland.

..

...

..

"Luce? Hello?" The blonde snapped out of her reverie and muttered a small apology. Reaching up and running fingers through her messy blonde hair with a sheepish look on her face.

"Sorry Natsu. Kinda zoned out a bit."

"A bit? You zoned out of the freaking dimension!" The blonde glared at him before folding her arms across her chest. The sudden memory of what was going to come dampened her mood.

"I- I just don't know what to do." Natsu looked at her before standing upright. Hands placed on his hips as his mind tried to think of ways that could brighten up the blonde.

"We could always ditch, you know."

Brown eyes snapped and the pinkette watched in silent amusement as the scientist gasped with shock. Lips opening and closing in poor attempt to make a logical sentence. Her mind wheeled in the utter idea of the two leaving the premises.

"Are you trying to get us killed?! We'll barely make it out of this district. The whole compound will prove impossible." The blonde retorted. What on earth even caused him to have such an idea?

"I command fire. I can protect us both."

"But you-"The blonde stood up to her feet.

"I only stayed because of you, Lucy." There was a brief moment of silence before the pinkette took it as his queue to continue. "I could've escaped if I wanted to. I could just melt the entire place. I could just command the volcanoes to erupt and send forth the largest lava here but I didn't."

Lucy squeaked silently as large tan hands reached down and grasped her fingers in their own. Encasing them and gently squeezing them affectionate.

"What do you say, Luce?"

The abrupt pounding of the door opened and quickly, the two pulled away from each other. Security rushed inside and flowed around the room, securing any possible escape that might have crawled to their minds. A suited man walked inside the room. The protruding sound of boots hitting the floor with each step.

"Professor Heartfilia." The named blonde narrowed her eyes.

"Director Phantom." His face twisted into a mocking smile. Raising his hand, he signaled for two men to enrapture the blonde, who reacted in surprise.

"Take her to the fourth tower."

"W-wait! W-What's the meaning of this?!" Lucy yelled out before she was taken away. Despite kicking and twisting within the tight grip of the security, her attempts proved futile. Brown eyes reached out to the pink-haired male that remained in the same spot. They led her away and closed the door behind them. Tears built in the corners and the blonde bit down on her lips to stop the cry from escaping.

She didn't know how long they would keep her cooped up in the tower. After leading her away, the roughly pushed her into the cell and bolted it close. During their harsh treatment, she had lost conscious on the way and had woken when they threw her body carelessly into the cell. It was dark and void, just a door blocking her path. Her eyes casted down and began to recollect her thoughts. If she needed to escape, she has the time now to figure out something now.

Her hands were chained behind her back. Standing up, she scanned the void room and tried thinking of any indications that would ensure an attempt of escape.

And Natsu? She didn't know what happened with him either. It could be that he was probably on his way to the capital or Director Phantom must've already-.

No.

Natsu wouldn't just let the director kill him. He was much better than that.

The sound of the door unlocking caught her attention. Pushed open, the figure stepped out and offered a genuine mocking laugh at her situation.

"Lucy… Lucy.. Lucy…" Director Phantom mocked, taking a careful step towards her. "You don't seem too obedient with the regulations around here. Do I need to remind you of your status?"

Her brown eyes narrowed. "Where's Natsu?"

His eyes twinkled with mirth and mischief. "I'm afraid that specimen is not valid in the system's records." He paused. "It was such an interesting time getting…_friendly_ with that thing. Unfortunately, it perished easily. Just like the rest."

"Cut the crap, Phantom. Natsu's better than that." The male before her blinked before letting out a full laugh. He reached up and brushed the tears that escaped his eyes.

"Right. Okay. That was a good one, Lucy." He chuckled, "I guess we'll just have to see about that." He advanced forward with speed. Hands outstretched. The blonde smirked to herself before crouching down into a squat, squeezing her legs and bouncing off into the air, delivering a roundhouse kick that aimed straight at Phantom's head. The obvious 'crack' sent a smile to her face.

The impact sending him face first to the brick walls. His eyes flashed at her with a murderous gaze.

"I'll kill you." She offered a mocking smile before skipping to the exit of her cell. Slowly, she turned her head to look at him with the same smile he had given her. Blonde eyes twinkling with mirth and accomplishment.

"We'll have to see about that." Her happiness was short-lived as she came upon the edge of her cell. Her heart dropped as she realized that Phantom had shut down the transmitting systems. Brown eyes casted out and she realized that she was definitely in the middle of nowhere. This was not tower four as she had known before. Instead of other cells that should be surrounding hers, it was just a void of forest below. Looking down, it was probably a good seven hundred and twenty five in height from the ground.

"You thought you just did something, didn't you – blondie?" A weak cackle came from behind. Fearful, she turned around to see him staggering to the wall. Palms pressed against the brick to pull himself up to his feet. A hand was pressed to his face where her foot kicked him, nursing the area.

"You're going to regret doing that."

A loud explosion blew the covering of the cell. Exposing the real background. It was all an illusion. She could clearly see the dangling electric wires hanging from the ceiling from being blown-off and for the slightest second, she had forgotten where she was.

"Is she?" Another voice popped out, shocking the two from their intense glares. Turning her head, a broad chest blocked her sight but she already knew who it was.

"I see…" He said. Suddenly, the chains the bounded her wrists dropped onto the ground. Looking down, she saw traces of heat, seeping into the iron. Without a moment's wait, an arm scooped her legs and brought her close to a bare chest.

"Don't worry, Luce. I've got you." Tears sprung into her eyes as she reached over with arms outstretched, wrapping themselves around him as tightly as she could.

"Please Natsu." Her voice shook with fear. She just wanted to get away from this. Just get away from everything. "Please protect me."

"I'm fired up."

The last thing remembered this time, was the way the lava broke from the ground. Seeping inside the technical illusion room and bursted the entire compound. She remembered the way it danced around Natsu. Obeying his hands and the way his fingers would light up in fire. She remembered the way he took a deep breath of air and blew the iron gates for the compound with overwhelming fire.

After that, the last thing she remembered before losing conscious was the way he looked down and smiled at her. His mouth saying something and he laughed out loud but she just barely grasped his words.

"I'm glad that's your answer. Otherwise I had destroyed everything for nothing."


End file.
